The Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) concluded its extraordinary meeting today, which discussed the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, at the request of Palestine and Jordan, in coordination and consultation with Saudi Arabia, the current Chairman of the Islamic Summit and Chairman of the Executive Committee, at OIC headquarters in Jeddah.
The Committee reiterated all resolutions issued by the OIC related to Palestine and Al-Quds, the centrality of the Palestinian cause, including Al-Quds and its holy shrines, for the entire Islamic nation, and the eternal bond that attaches all Muslims around the world to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Committee’s statement also affirmed the Arab and Islamic identity of occupied East Al-Quds as the capital of the State of Palestine, and refuses to prejudice it in any way, and condemns in the strongest terms the serious escalation of the Israeli occupation forces and terrorist settlers by repeatedly storming Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan, namely the latest aggression which took place on the night of the 14th of Ramadan by brutally attacking worshipers in the courtyards of the mosque while performing their prayers and rituals, which resulted in the injury and arrest of hundreds of them, and caused damage to the mosques chapel, which represent an assault on the existing legal and historical status and a serious violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.
The Committee warns of the consequences of the continued infringement by the Israeli occupation authorities, their officials, and terrorist settlers on the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, including provocations, continuous abuses, assaults, and serious daily incursions, in gross violation of international law and unprecedented tampering with the existing historical and legal situation, and in an attempt to perpetuate the temporal and spatial division of the Mosque, reiterating that the Israeli occupation has no sovereignty over any part of Al-Aqsa Mosque and that Muslim worshipers have the absolute right to pray freely and safely in the mosque and its courtyards, at any time, without any hindrance or violence.
OIC also reiterates the historical Hashemite Custodianship of the Islamic and Christian holy places in Al-Quds, and its role in protecting these shrines and preserving the existing legal and historical status therein, and affirming that the Al-Quds Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department of the Ministry of Awqaf Islamic Affairs and Holy Places is the only body authorized to manage the affairs of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
OIC also reaffirms the importance of the role of the Al-Quds Committee headed by King Mohammed VI of Morocco in confronting the dangerous policies implemented by the Israeli occupation authorities in Al-Quds to change the city’s identity and legal status, as well as its demographic, cultural and historical composition, appreciating the role played by the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Sharif Agency.
SOURCE: SAUDI PRESS AGENCY